Improvement in seeding-machines



C. 0. JAMES.

1 Grain-Drill NPETERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D. C.

Patented Dec. 1-5, 1857.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES C. JAMES, OF DAYTON, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT lN SEEDlNG-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 18,852, dated December15, 1857 To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES Cox JAMES,

' of Dayton, in the county of Montgomery and State of Ohio, haveinvented a new and Improved Seeding-Machine; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and ex act description of the same,reference being had -'tached plan of a portion of the adjustableregulating slide and two of the stationary perforated plates.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspondin g parts in theseveral figures.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct myinvention, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents an oblong hopper or seed-box, which is placed on arectangular frame, B, said frame being mounted on wheels G O,one ofwhich is placed loosely on the axle D and the other permanently attachedto it.

E is a slide, through which slots or openings a are made. The sides oredges of this slide are fitted in recesses or grooves I), made in thelower edges of the front and back pieces of the hopper, and the edges ofthe slide E rest on stationary plates F, which are secured to the underside of the hopper A at suitable distances apart, so that a plate F maybe underneath each slot or opening a in the slide E. The slide E has itsupper surface framed with inclined surfaces or step-like projections b",to insure the ready passage of the seed through the openings a, and alsoto prevent the clogging of the same within thehop- Each plateF has anopening, 0, made through it, which corresponds in size to the openingsat in the slide E.

Between the slideE and the stationary plates F an adjustable slide, G,is interposed. This slide has openings (1 made through it, in whichprojecting ledges or plates 6 on the stationary plates F fit, andthrough which openings studs f pass, which studs connect the slide Ewith a slide, H, which is placed below the plates F. The openings 01 aresufliciently large to allow the slides E and H a requisite length ofvibration, and the openings at are not of equal width throughout, butmade to correspond with the width of the studs f and the ledges orplates on the plates F, as plainly shown in Fig. 3.

To the slide H short spouts or conveyors I are attached at equaldistances apart, and at such points that they may work or vibrateunderneath the openings 0 in the plates F. The spouts or conveyers I areslightly inclined downward from the front to the back sides of hopper,as shown clearly in Fig. 2.

To one end of the slide Gr an arm, g, is attached, and in this arm thelower end of a lever, J, is fitted. This lever is pivoted to the backside of the hopper, as shown at h, and its upper end traverses over agraduated arc, t, the lever being set at any desired point by asetscrew, j, the slide G being moved by adjust ing said lever. Byshifting the slide G the openings cin the plates F may be more or lesscontracted, and consequently the discharge of the seed may be regulatedas desired. This contracting of the openings 0 will be understood byreferring to Fig. 3.

The two slides E H have a reciprocating motion given them by means of azigzag cam, k, which is placed on the axle D, and has a pin, 1, on alever, 1, working therein. This lever I is pivoted to the frame B, andits outer end is attached to one end of a rod, J, the opposite end ofwhich is attached to an arm, at, projecting from the slide E.

The seed to be planted is placed within the hopper or seed-box A, and asthe machine is drawn along the slides E H are operated by the meanspreviously described, and the seed passes through the openings (1 in theslide E and through the openings 0 in the plates F, the size of thelatter openings being regulated as desired by adjusting the slide G. Thegrain, as it passes through opening 6, falls into the spouts orconveyors I, from which it falls in a continuous stream into the usualconveyingtubes, which are not represented, said tubes being attached tothe machine and arranged in the usual way.

The ordinary seed-planters are generally defective, because they willnot sow wheat that is an ywise dirty without choking, and very few,indeed, will sow oats and barley at all, besides most of them aredisposed to bunch in sowing for the want of something to distribute thegrain equally in the soil. Now, my inside steplike slide"E when inmotion, produces the same effect upon the grain in the hopper that isproduced upon grain put in a common handsievenamcly, all rubbish or dirtthat may be mixed with the grain put into a common handsieve, when putin motion, will come to the top, while the grain, being a heaviersubstance, will pass through.j ust so with the same kind of dirty grainthat may be put into the hopper of my improved seed-planter. Thereforeit is utterly impossible for it to choke or refuse to sow while there isgrain in the hopper. This I have proved -to my satisfaction in thefield.

Most seed-planters are obliged to have their slides changed or to have achange made in their speed, and even then they sow-so imperfeotly thatmost farmers prefer sowing their oats and barley broadcast by hand thantrust. to the drill. My inside step-like slide, IE, will sow all kindsof grain alike, no matter how dirty, and will do this with no morechangethan can be made by my regulating-slide G in opening or closing theapertures, which slide G is governed by an index-hand outside of thehopper. v i

Another advantage I have'ov'er other drills. in use is the totalimpossibility of my planter bunching in sowing. The grain passes frommy-inside slide, E, onto my hopper-slide H underneath, which has thesamemotion as the slide E. The tendency of slide H, with its concavespouts I,'is to distribute the grain ciprocating perforated slides inseed-planters;

nor do I claim adjustable slides and indexes for regulating the quantityof grain sown; but,

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, 'is- The employment of a stepped slide, E, anda slide, H, having conveyers I attached, the

above parts being arranged and operating, sub

stantially as shown, so as first to thoroughly agitate the seed while inthe hopper, and then to deliver it with a shaking hopper-like mo tion tothe furrow-tubes, thus preventing all liability in the grain to clog orbunch, and rendering the machine capable of sowing various kinds ofseeds without change or alteration of said slides.

v oHAs. 00:( JAMES.

Witnesses: I if ADAM HoUK, 7 E0121. TERRENCE.

